Tunnicliffe takes gloves for Proteas pair

YOUNG wicket-keeping batter Faye Tunnicliffe has big ambitions with the gloves as she continues deputising for the unavailable duo of Trisha Chetty and Lizelle Lee in the Proteas women’s upcoming ICC Women’s Championship One-Day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka in Potchefstroom, starting today.

The 20-year old has bloomed behind the stumps since making her international debut in last year’s T20 series against the West Indies, which preceded the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20, also in the Caribbean.

Tunnicliffe has gone on to appear in eight T20s for South Africa, including the recent three-nil series whitewash over Sri Lanka.

Tunnicliffe, who represents Boland women, is determined to improve her wicket-keeping skills and some day be ranked among the best in the world.

She admits that the pressure she put on herself when she first took the gloves, coupled with comments from the international community, played on her confidence when she started her international career, but now she has chosen to look at the pressure as a growth mechanism.

“It’s definitely a skill set that I have been focusing on a lot, especially since the West Indies,” she added. “Beforehand, coming into the team as a junior and playing such a big role as a wicket-keeper, there was a lot of pressure. It’s something I take on the chin.

“The last T20 series was a lot better for me, just in terms of the confidence, because I knew I had a couple of games behind me. I feel like I’ve definitely improved, and I look forward to what the future has for me with the gloves.”

The right-handed batter confessed she was surprised at her initial call-up to the squad as a wicket-keeper in September last year following Chetty’s failure to return to full fitness after a lengthy injury.

Despite not regularly playing as a keeper for her provincial side, Tunnecliffe’s domestic performances with the bat and her cameo in the role for the Emerging Women’s team earned her an opportunity in the national set-up, going on to play two matches at the World T20.

With Chetty and Lee still hard at work on returning to their respective full fitness, Tunnicliffe is set to make her debut in the 50-over format.

The vastly experienced pair have a combined 178 ODI caps between them. “I am just glad to be here, and if something does go wrong with Trisha or Lizelle, then I’m glad they can fall back on me,” she said.